August 30, 2009 LEADING THE WAY Sinclair sparks All-Stars to victory with two goals in a minute
Kathryn L. Knapp Chicagolandsoccernews.com Editor
When you want to score some goals and beat one of the top teams in the world, you need to come up with a solid game plan. For WPS All-Star head coach Abner Rogers, he had many choices. Fortunately for the home team, Christine Sinclair became a hero just seconds into the second half to lead the All-Stars to a 4-2 win over Umea IK.
“Second half we wanted to play a bit quicker,” Rogers said. “My job is easy with Abby [Wambach] and Christine [Sinclair]. They can both hold on to the ball, and they play well off each other. We had moments of absolute brilliance.”
Sinclair didn’t waste any time. She entered the match for Amy LePeilbet and immediately made an impact on the game. She redirected a Marta cross to tally a goal and give the homeside a 1-0 lead in the 46th minute. After a Umea goal kick, Sinclair broke away and ran the ball back toward goal, riffling a shot into the net for a 4-2 lead.
Three minutes later, she almost struck again. Sinclair rocketed a shot off the cross bar, barely missing the hat trick. She added two more shots in the second half, firing up the All-Star squad.
“The first half was almost a wake-up call for us,” Sinclair said. “They’re one of the best club teams in the world for a reason. We knew once we got things started, we’d score some goals.”
Sinclair said she had no idea what the second half would hold. She just knew they wanted to tally some goals.
“Going into the game, I was just thinking don’t make yourself look crazy in front of all these great players,” Sinclair said. “But honestly, the first five or 10 minutes of the second half were like a dream for me.”
Sinclair spent the first WPS season as a striker for FC Gold Pride. She found success, tallying six goals and one assist in 17 matches for FCGP. Sinclair also spent some time with the Canadian National Team, where she sits steady with 99 goals waiting to net her 100th.
While FC Gold Pride (4-10-6, 18 points) finished at the bottom of the standings in 2009, Sinclair said it was a successful campaign with lessons learned.
“The level of play was higher than I thought it was going to be,” Sinclair said. “We didn’t finish where we wanted to b. We were in a lot of tight games that we could have won.”
Sinclair said the plan right now is for the team to work hard in the off-season and get ready to take the pitch again in 2010. She said she knows they’ll have their work cut out for them.
“The fact that any team could beat any other team on any given day is exciting,” Sinclair said. “There’s such parity in this league. With two more teams coming in it will only get better.”
